Amendment

From Earthpigs Playground

What if we enshrined in the constitution the right of private citizens to video tape Police Officers interacting with private citizens in public areas, and banned the destruction of those recordings if they are seized and searched by any law enforcement officer or government official for any reason?

As the above video demonstrates, such recordings are not always destroyed. However, many have claimed that after being arrested for recording an on-duty Police Officer, their device was allegedly returned to them with the video destroyed, especially in "two-party consent" States, and especially in situations wherein the video allegedly contained incriminating evidence against the arresting officer(s).

This proposed Constitutional Amendment is currently a rough draft, but is eventually intended to discourage the arresting of innocent bystanders with recording devices, and if such arrests occur to ensure that any evidence of improper behavior by Law Enforcement is published for the citizens, District Attorney, and civil rights groups to see.

In the event that a criminal records his own arrest while on a public street or area, or that others are recording the arrest, this will encourage arresting officers to properly employ their existing Force Continuum in order to ensure the safety of all involved persons.

The amendment is intended to be limited in scope in order to increase its chances of being adopted as either a federal law or constitutional amendment. It is not intended to, nor will it, eliminate all police brutality in our nation. It is not intended to, nor will it, eradicate all intentional destruction of evidence that may incriminate a law enforcement officer or evidence that may exonerate an innocent person. It is only intended to mitigate and reduce those occurrences, and make them a little bit more difficult to pull off and get away with.

It is intended to preserve such evidence in such a way that it is still admissible in court, and in the case of evidence of someone assaulting a police officer, the amendment will still apply. This protects good police officers from false accusations, and increases the likelihood that criminals -- in uniform and out -- will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Law Enforcement Officers and supporters thereof should note that it requires private citizens maintain 20 feet of distance from the LEO when and if they are recording, and heckling or yelling can still be considered disturbing the peace, interfering with an officer in the execution of his duties, etc.

Feel free to click the "Edit" button, the "Discussion" button, and to BE BOLD with your edits and contributions! If you plan to make significant changes to one of the versions of the proposed amendment, please create a new version of the proposed amendment.

[edit] Version A

Amendment Regarding the Use of Privately Owned Recording Devices in Public Areas

Section 1. Nothing in this amendment shall be interpreted as applying to recording devices owned by Federal, State, or Local governments or as applying to officials thereof using recording devices while acting in any official capacity.

Section 2. In all public areas of the United States inside the various states and territories thereof, only one party needs to be aware that recording is occurring for such recording. On private property, existing Federal, State, and Local laws shall continue to be in effect.

Section 3. This applies to Federal, State, and Local government officials being recorded in the execution of their duties on public lands such as parks and roads.

Section 4. When such recording is occurring using a mobile device, the private citizen must make reasonable efforts to maintain at least 20 feet of distance from the official.

Section 5. In any case wherein such recording devices are searched or seized, any and all recordings that include Federal, State, or Local government officials executing their duties shall be entered into the public record in an unmodified state in such a way that a private citizen can readily access them. This should not be interpreted as compelling any searching or seizing to occur at all, and when private goods are seized but not searched they are to be returned to the owner in an unmodified state as per the established norms.

Section 6. Local jurisdictions are to create and maintain websites to facilitate this, and such websites shall not record any data regarding persons accessing said website.

[edit] Version B, a little more complex and with protection/preservation of various State privacy laws in Public Areas

Amendment Regarding the Use of Privately Owned Recording Devices

Section 1. Nothing in this amendment shall be interpreted as applying to recording devices owned by Federal, State, or Local governments or as applying to officials thereof using recording devices while acting in any official capacity.

Section 2. In all public areas of the United States inside the various states and territories thereof, Federal, State, and Local government officials being recorded in the execution of their duties on public lands such as parks and roads need not be informed nor provide consent for their actions to be legally recorded. On private property, existing Federal, State, and Local laws shall continue to be in effect.

Section 3. When such recording is occurring using a mobile device, the private individual must make reasonable efforts to maintain at least 20 feet of distance from the official.

Section 4. In any case wherein such recording devices are searched or seized, any and all recordings that include Federal, State, or Local government officials executing their duties shall be held for a period of not less than 10 years in an unmodified state. Copies must be entered into the public record in an unmodified state except where such modifications are permitted in section 5, and in such a way that the general public can readily access them, unless the recording would prejudice an ongoing criminal investigation.

Section 5. The faces, voices, and unique identifying marks of private persons may obfuscated only to the extent necessary to prevent recognition of specific persons in any of the following cases:

a) If requested by the person in question or legal representatives of such person.
b) If done by a State or locally established and legally empowered privacy committee.
c) As required by State law or Local government ordinance.

In addition, the obfuscation must be removed if requested by the person or legal representatives of such persons.

Section 6. Section 5 obfuscation is to be done at the expense of States or Local governances that have or wish to enact such laws. The extent of Section 5 obfuscation is to be determined by the locality in which the recording was made, not by the jurisdiction of the official that seized the material.

Section 7. Local jurisdictions are to create and maintain websites to facilitate this, and such websites shall not record any data regarding persons accessing said website.

[edit] Who came up with this wiki page?

I did: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Earthpig

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